Man surrenders, is hospitalized after night on Carrboro hotel roof

A man who climbed to the roof of the five-story Hampton Inn downtown on Tuesday afternoon and threatened to jump was persuaded to come down on Wednesday morning.

The man, who police Chief Walter Horton said was believed to be in his early 20s, was taken to UNC Hospitals for evaluation.

The man talked with negotiators from the Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Cary police departments and the Chapel Hill police crisis-intervention team before finally surrendering, Horton said.

The man talked about “issues and concerns” he had, Horton said, but never threatened harm to anyone else.

“They were great,” Horton said of the negotiators who worked to get the man down.

He also thanked Orange County EMS and the Carrboro Fire Department, who had personnel at the scene throughout the incident.

Police told the town Public Works Department to close East Main Street in front of the hotel during the ordeal, and Horton thanked local merchants and restaurateurs for their patience when people could not reach their businesses Tuesday night.

The hotel is near where Carrboro’s East Main Street and Chapel Hill’s East Franklin Street meet and is the major thoroughfare between the two downtowns.